Civil partnerships in the United Kingdom, granted under the Civil Partnership Act 2004, allow same-sex couples to obtain essentially the same rights and responsibilities as civil marriage. Though from March 2014 full same-sex marriage was legalised in England and Wales, civil partnership remains available. Designed to be very much equivalent to marriage for same sex couples, a civil partnership carries both rights and responsibilities, in very broad terms, attracting the same legal and tax protections/advantages/disadvantages as a traditional marriage. This article explains further.